43 new trains introduced

Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday announced the introduction of 43 new trains and kept freight rates unchanged.

During his tenure so far, 604 new trains were introduced, in addition to 105 local trains.

Ahead of the vote on account exercise, Yadav had inaugurated several railway-related projects in Bihar, and sanctioned projects worth Rs. 55, 000 crore in the past one month.

Between April 1 and January 31(2008-09), the Railways earned Rs 57, 282 crore compared to Rs 50,765 crore during the same period in 2007-08, registering an increase of 12.84 per cent.

The total revenue is expected to cross Rs.70, 000 crore this fiscal. Last year, the Railways' earned profits of nearly 20,000 crore.

The Indian Railways are the second largest railroad in the world under a single management, running more than 11,000 trains every day, 7,000 of which are for passengers.

The network comprises 108,706 km and ferries 14 million passengers daily from 6,853 stations across the length and breadth of the country. This is the reason why it is the only ministry that has a separate budget.